Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-02-10
ASHTABULA OUTDONE.
THE HORRORS OF THE YER
MONT RAILROAD ACCIDENT.
Crushed, Burned, Frozen.
The Awful Fate of Passengers en-
route to the Montreal Carnival
An Entire Train Load De-
Stroyed.

morning on the Central Vermont Rail
road, at the bridge which crosses the
White river in the town of Hartford,
about four miles from this place. By
it
FOUR HEAVILY LOADED PASSENGER
CARS,
filled for the most part with passen-
gers seeking pleasure, en- route to the
Montreal Carnival, were hurled, while
running at full speed, from an open
bridge, over and over, down a terribly
ragged, rocky gorge seventy-five feet,
into the darkness, striking at last with
an awful crash upon the bleak and bar
ren surface of an ice bound river, where
the souls of at least forty and possibly
nfty human helngs went out to their
God from the depths of rushing, gurg-
ling, freezing water, or in the lurid
glare OF fire and amid the night-pierc-
ing shrieks and heart-rending groans of
thirty or more who, if they still live,
live only to drag out weary existence,
burdened with woe from the loss of
loved ones and crippled in body and
limb.
The train doomed to this awful ex-
perience was made up at this Junction,
bound for Montreal, and consisted of a
locomotive, baggage, postal, two ordi-
nary and two sleeping cars. These cars
constituted the remnants of the trains
known as the Montreal night expresses,
one of which leaves New York at4 d.
M, passing Springfield, Mass, at 8 D.
m., and the other leaving Boston at D.
m., and passing Concord, N. H., at 8 D,
m. One sleeper and one passenger
coach from the New York train, with
one Chicago sleeper, were attached
here to the Boston train, which con-
sisted of one sleeper, one passenger
coach, and one mail, baggage and .ex-
press car.
Although nearly an hour and thirty
minutes late, the train started on its
LONELY MOUNTAIN JOURNEY
shortly after a. m. with the eighty or
more human beings ON board uncon-
scious of the terrible fate awaiting
them. The engineer, who is now crazed
by the awful accident, had safely taken
many train over this dangerous route,
and eager to make up lost time so far as
possible, pulled out the throttle and
was soon speeding along the straight
| four mile stretch west of White River
junction at the rate of forty miles an
| hour, but the run of that train was to
be brief The mercury had passed zero
and was rapidly going down, and the
clear moonlight glistened on the frosty
surface on the long stretches of lofty
mountain crags as she rounded small
curve to make the run over the bridge.
JUST THERE THE ANGEL OF DEATH AP-
|
lowering over that train. What hap
pened? Who blundered? Time alone
will tell. A broken rail 200 feet from
the bridge is the only witness. Did q
wheel break first or was that break
there in the rail before the crash came?
The engine, baggage and mail car
passed ON to the bridge and safely over.
The others! - suddenly there was q
jar, humping of trucks along the ties,
the passenger coaches and sleepers
were off the tracks-detache from
the rest ofthe train and running with
tremendous speed upon the bridge.
They reached the first timbers, tore
away the abutments, tipped slightly
and then
CARS, BRIDGE, AND EIGHTY HUMAN
| BEINGS
went over and down to wreck and
death.
AS soon as possible the detached
part of the train was stopped and run
back to the scene. When those on it
arrived, the screams of the injured and
suffering were piercing the air. Below
partly on the ice, partly on the river
channel lay those travelling palaces and
the mighty bridge smashed into an in
discriminate heap from which the blue
tongues of flame were already leaping
like demons in the mad dance of de-
struction. Fiercer and more fierce
ragged the flaming pillows slowly along
the crimson tinted snow sheets.
HALF NAKED, BENUMBED AND BLEED
ING FORMS
were dragging themselves In search of
shelter; some dazed, but with the in
stinct of heroism still alive, were clear
ing away broken timbers in almost ST.
perhuman endeavors to rescue fellow
travellers from the wreck. The groans
of the half conscious, dying victims
rose on the air, mingled with the pierre
ing shrieks and heartrending cries
from those in the wreck. The scene
was horrible. Fortunately the agony
was brief. Those present were power.
less to stop the flames, and while doing
all In their power to rescue the unfor-
tunates, the rescuers met another OBJ
stacle. The heat became SO intense
that they were obliged to relinauish
their efforts to save the suffering, and
We're compelled to retreat to place of
safety and become unwilling and
HORROR STRICKEN WITNESSES OF THE
AWFUL HOLOCAUST.
In addition to this, and to add to the
terrors and sufferings of the passengers,
the weather was so extremely cold that
the heroic rescuers were hindered i'm
their work.
Before relief train arrived from this
place the entire wreck, bridge and all
was consumed and over
FORTY OF THAT UNHAPPY TRAINLoAD
of carnival seekers were in the en-
brace OF death, some consumed in the
wreck and the rest dying on the ice
where tender hands had laid them
Before the relief train started the light
OF the burning cars could be seen dis
tinctly here for about an hour. The
only house near the scene was that Of
Thomas Pingree, farmer, and had II
not been for his hospitable room and
that afforded by the baggage and mail